


When In Doubt

by fardareismai



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: AU Situation, AU prompt, F/M, One Shot, and i'm not, and now you're passionate about it, because of course they do, meet on a bus, meeting again at the library, you're into harry potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 01:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13823178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fardareismai/pseuds/fardareismai
Summary: Based on the following AU prompt:“You’re really passionate about Harry Potter and I tell you I’ve never even watched the movies so now we’re going back to your house for a movie marathon and you’re on a rant and I don’t know what I said” au





	When In Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something for The Librarians, but didn’t want to get bogged down with a huge multi-chapter story, so instead here’s a bit of fluff and nonsense based on the following AU prompt:
> 
> “You’re really passionate about Harry Potter and I tell you I’ve never even watched the movies so now we’re going back to your house for a movie marathon and you’re on a rant and I don’t know what I said” au

Eve flashed her pass as she stepped up to the nearly-full bus.  She sighed as she scanned the rows for a seat- she’d been on her feet all day and her stop was at the far end of the line, nearly an hour away.  She had just resigned herself to standing, however, when she notices a movement near the back- a man was waving, trying to get her attention.  When she stood on her tip-toes, she could see that he had an empty seat beside him, and she gratefully stepped toward him, only to be nearly flung into this stranger’s lap by the bus pulling away from her stop.

“Sorry,” she said, quickly adjusting herself so she wasn’t practically laying across him.  “Thanks for-” she started, then noticed he was holding out her purse and snatched it from his hand.  “Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” he said with a mocking smile.  “I didn’t think you were going to be trouble, and those shoes didn’t look like they’d be much fun to stand in.”

“Yeah,” Eve said, frowning down at her heels.  “Normally I change into sneakers before I leave work, but I was running late and didn’t want to miss the bus.”  She shook her head, annoyed with herself for being so ruffled she was running off at the mouth to a complete stranger.

“Well I’m glad you made it,” he said with a nod, “and I’m glad you found a seat.”

“Yeah… thanks again for that,” Eve mumbled.

The man beside her appeared to have become bored with her and had returned his attention to the book in his lap.  Eve took a moment to settle her ruffled feathers and glanced over, surprised to see what she recognized as a Harry Potter book.

She’d done a quick once-over of the guy before she fell all over him- an important trick for any woman traveling alone, and second-nature to a soldier- and he’d given her the impression of a slightly nutty professor type with his oddly anachronistic three-piece suit and bright ascot combination.  It shouldn’t have been appealing, but on him it was.  She’d expected a tome of obscure history or book of complex mathematics, however, not a kid’s book.

For some reason, it made his angular face and disheveled hair oddly endearing suddenly, and Eve shook her head again, trying to get her runaway thoughts back in order.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and began to scroll through the file her CO had sent her. They were getting new recruits on Monday, and Eve was determined to know names and faces even before she’d met them.

First was Jacob Stone, a rough-looking sort, glaring at the world out of bright blue eyes.  There were a few photos of him in the file.  He seemed to prefer denim and flannel, and didn’t seem to smile very often, but there was one candid shot that had him laughing, and Eve was surprised at how nice his smile was.  He’d been recruited from an oil rig in Oklahoma, and seemed only too ready to leave that stultifying world behind to seek adventure.

“Jacob Stone,” she murmured, just to seal it into her mind, then moved on.

Next was Cassandra Cillian. In contrast to Jacob, every photo of this woman seemed to have a bright, near-manic smile.  She had bright red hair and tended to dress in similarly bright colors.  She’d been in and out of hospitals since she was seven years old, and hadn’t attended normal school, getting her education instead through online courses at which she had excelled.  Eve expected brilliance and near-painful innocence, and made a mental note to be gentle with this one- barking orders might send her running.

“Cassandra Cillian.”

Last was the terribly young face of Ezekiel Jones.  He couldn’t be quite 20 years old, but had been caught hacking into the NSA on a whim. The American government had allowed him to finish University in Australia, but had plucked him out the moment he had his degree, if for no other reason than to keep him out of trouble.  He had the puckish look of a man who would make Eve’s ordered life significantly more frustrating.  She had asked for the best, however, and he was that to a T.

“Ezekiel Jones,” she murmured, nodding as the information seemed to click into place in her mind.

“Ezekiel Jones?”

Eve jumped in surprise. She’d been so engrossed in her new team she’d forgotten the packed bus around her and her slightly-mad seatmate beside her.

The man beside her didn’t seem to notice her surprise, however, and continued talking, clearly not needing much response.

“Ezekiel Jones, I know that name!   _How_  do I know that name?  Family?  No.  No Jones’ in my family tree, the very idea! Book club?  Couldn’t be, I’m not in a book club.  How do I know that name?  I’m usually so good with names.  Hmm… ah!  A student. He must have been in one of my classes! But which one?”

“Uh…” Eve said, wondering if he actually wanted an answer this time.  “Suppose it depends on what you teach.”

The man beside her seemed to notice her again for the first time and blinked in what appeared to be surprise at her presence.

“Me?  Teach?  Oh, well… a bit of everything.  Machine learning, and particle physics, and information sciences, and art history, and classic literature…”

“You can’t possibly be an expert in all of those fields and still have found time to sleep,” Eve said.

“Bah, sleep.  Who needs sleep when there’s so much more to learn?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, and Eve couldn’t help but smile.

“So what is Harry Potter then?  Particle physics or information sciences?”

The man glanced down at the book in his hands, and looked back up at her, slightly sheepish.

“Well… that’s mostly just for fun.  Finest story told in many a year, don’t you agree?”

Eve found that she wanted to agree, just to see this oddly engaging man smile, but had to be honest.

“I’ve… uh… never read them.”

“What!?” Flynn cried loud enough to startle the rest of the bus into turning and glaring at the pair of them.  “Oh, sorry,” he whispered at the others, then turned back to Eve.  “What!?” he whisper-shouted at her.

“I don’t really have a lot of time for reading,” Eve said, wondering why she was defending herself, “and aren’t those kids’ books?”

“Ah!” he cried, pressing a hand over his heart as though mortally wounded.  The guy was a Drama Queen, Eve decided.  “Kids’ books!?  These books tell tales of bravery and friendship, of cunning and loyalty and the power of knowledge and words.  And you would disparage it as  _kids books_?”

“Well they  _are_  kids’ books.  That’s exactly the kind of book you should get kids to read so they know how important bravery and loyalty and friendship are, right?  Isn’t that the point of fairy tales?”

He looked at her narrowly for a long time, then suddenly broke out in a heart-stopping grin.

“You’re perfectly right!” he said.  His expressive face went suddenly serious then.  “But, being right, it’s much more egregious that you haven’t read them.  If it’s important for children to know the lessons in these books, how much more so for adults?”

Eve opened her mouth, and then shut it again, considering.  “I guess you’re right,” she said slowly.  “I suppose I’ll have to see if my library has them so I can read them.”

“No need!” he cried, throwing an arm around Eve’s shoulder and pulling her against him in a move that would have had Eve breaking another man’s nose, but seemed only too natural from this man.  “You are here, and the book is here, and I have been told I’ve the finest reading voice in all the world.  I’ll read it to you.”

“Oh…” Eve glanced out the window, and was disappointed to see that they were at the stop before her own. “I… I actually have to get off here.”

“Oh,” he said, his entire face suddenly losing the light that seemed to shine behind it like a candle. After a second, he rallied as the bus began to slow.  “Well, here.” He shoved the book into her hands, even as she began to stand at her stop.”

“I can’t-”

“A wise man once said that a story is better when it’s shared.  Enjoy it.  I hope we see each other again someday.”

Eve stood, open-mouthed, not sure what to say for a moment before the jolt of the bus coming to a stop shook her from her surprise.

“I… thanks,” she said, and left.

Back in her apartment, Eve kicked off her uncomfortable shoes and stared at the book she had somehow acquired, wondering what to do.

She shrugged.  Nothing to do, she decided, except read it.  She picked it up from the table and flipped open the cover, only to discover a card catalogue envelope on the flyleaf.

“That idiot gave me his library book!” she said to the empty apartment, not sure whether to be amused or angry.  She shook her head and pulled out the card.  Flynn Carsen was the name at the bottom, and to her annoyance, the book was due back tomorrow.

“I should keep it an extra week and make you pay the fines, Flynn Carsen,” Eve muttered, even though she knew she wouldn’t.  She’d never returned a book late in her life.

~?~?~?~

Eve arrived at the library less than an hour after it opened to return Flynn Carsen’s borrowed copy of  _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_ , and to check that they had a copy of  _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_.  She thought she should have been surprised to find him sitting in one of the armchairs in the reading nook, but she absolutely wasn’t.

“You look like a woman who has sat up all night reading,” he said, bounding up to her and speaking far too loud for the hushed atmosphere of the library.

“You look like a man who would give a woman a book she has to return to the library in twenty-four hours,” Eve countered.

Flynn said nothing, only watched as Eve checked out the next book, and proceeded to follow her as she walked out the front doors of the library into the warm sunshine.

“Eve Baird,” he said, as though testing the name on his tongue.  Eve had wondered if he’d been watching the card catalogue slip for her name, and she had her answer.  “Off to read the next in the thrilling tales of Harry, Ron, and Hermione?  Or were you thinking of grabbing a bite of breakfast first?”

“It depends,” Eve said, throwing her usual caution to the wind.  “Is that an invitation?”

“Unless you prefer such things engraved on magical parchment,” Flynn said with a grin.  “There’s a diner just a block down the road, and they make the best eggs benedict this side of the Mississippi River.  What do you say?  Join me?”

Eve laughed and looped her arm into his, allowing him to lead her away.


End file.
